A significant majority of Americans believe that extreme political rhetoric was primarily responsible for the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, according to a new national poll that revealed rare consensus across party lines.
Cross-Party Agreement on Rhetoric's Role
The NBC News survey found that 61 percent of respondents attributed the killing to inflammatory language used by prominent political figures and media outlets, rather than simply viewing it as the action of a disturbed individual. The poll demonstrated unusual political unity, with Republicans blaming rhetoric by a margin of 73 percent to 19 percent, Democrats at 54 percent to 34 percent, and independents at 53 percent to 28 percent.
Only 28 percent of those surveyed felt the tragedy was "caused by a disturbed person," while a mere 4 percent believed both factors had contributed equally to the fatal shooting.
The Campus Assassination and Aftermath
Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, was shot dead on September 10 while participating in an outdoor debate with students at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The married father of two was struck in the neck by a bullet fired from a nearby rooftop.
Tyler Robinson, 22, was subsequently arrested and charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, two counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering, and one count of violence committed in the presence of a child. Utah state prosecutors have confirmed they will seek the death penalty in the case.
Growing Trend in Perceptions of Political Violence
The NBC analysis compared the Kirk assassination with four other acts of political violence from the past 15 years, revealing an increasing public willingness to identify irresponsible partisan discourse as a contributing factor.
While only 24 percent of respondents blamed rhetoric for the 2011 shooting of congresswoman Gabby Giffords, that figure rose to 41 percent for the 2017 shooting of Steve Scalise and 49 percent for the 2022 hammer attack on Paul Pelosi.
Following Kirk's murder, Trump administration figures including Vice President JD Vance and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller pointed to "left-wing extremism" as the cause, citing political slogans found on bullet casings used in the attack.
However, no definitive evidence has emerged linking Robinson to organised left-wing groups, and the administration's proposed "war on terror" against Antifa has yet to materialise, facing reported scepticism even within government ranks.
President Trump did issue a national security memorandum on September 25 accusing liberals of "animating... violent conduct" and concealing terror agendas behind "anti-fascist" positioning.
Kirk himself, a hard-line Christian conservative, had frequently been accused of promoting divisive narratives through statements criticised as misogynistic, homophobic, and Islamophobic, often echoing Trumpian talking points.
The killing forms part of a broader pattern of political violence this year, including an April arson attack on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's home, the June murders of Minnesota's former state House speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and a shooting at an ICE detention centre in Dallas that occurred less than two weeks after Kirk's death.
